Chandigarh: Over 1,900 child labourers were rescued from different areas of Punjab in the last one year, State Labour Minister Surjit Kumar Jiyani said.

Of the 1,959 child labourers rescued in the state last year, 1,284 were engaged in hazardous works, the minister said in a statement on Sunday.

The state police has booked 1,802 persons involved in child labour in various districts in the past one year, he said.

He said that as per the government rule a person booked for engaging child labour has to deposit Rs 20,000 per child in Child Labour Rehabilitation Fund in which the state government also deposits Rs 5,000 for one child.

Special schools are also being run in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar districts, where rescued child labourers are given admission and their primary education is completed in three years, he said.

These children are also provided vocational education in these schools.

So far, 7,484 children have completed their primary education from these special schools and 4,271 are presently studying.